Press Releases
BtoBet: Coming Out Successfully From The Current Sportsbook Scenario
- Short-term mitigation plans could shape up a new industry on the long term
As the iGaming industry is adapting to the live sport events shortfall that has now taken the iGaming industry by storm, not everything is doom and gloom. Alessandro Fried, BtoBet’s Chief Executive Officer, discusses the interim measures that operators are adopting to mitigate the gap created in the sportsbook vertical, and how eventually the industry will morph into a more diverse scenario based on the decisions that operators are taking at the moment.
In what way will the current situation impact the industry?
Everyone is expecting live sport events to surely resume shortly. They will be back, and with them the sports betting vertical will pick up where it left and bounce back. At this point in time the Italian top league clubs are all set to resume their training in a couple of weeks, whilst in Germany teams have already resumed with their preparations to final sprint of the Bundesliga.
However, it is true that the industry has undoubtedly been impacted. No one has ever imagined a scenario where live sports on practically a global level would be made unavailable. The pandemic and its consequences, with governments and authorities alike putting in place extraordinary measures imposing social distancing in order to curb the outbreak, has disrupted mostly those bookmakers who throughout the years have based their business activities on a retail network. The same applies for the retail casino outlets, with Las Vegas as the primary example, literally closing down its doors for business.
It is with this in mind that I expect a major shift in operators’ strategies in the immediate to short term, with retail licensees seeking to migrate their business activities to the digital mediums, thus also mitigating for any future downturns in terms of retail customers.
Turnover from live sportsbetting is a major problem for most operators. However, have other verticals seen an increase in player engagement?
The current circumstances related to live sport events has had its major toll on those operators who have based their offering primarily on live football events, with the top leagues generating an ever increasing revenue stream as this form of gambling is nowadays being considered as an extension to the events themselves. Such are the number of followers that these events produce. However, the scenario has changed abruptly, and live sport events that on a daily basis averaged into hundreds of events have now been reduced to merely a handful. Live betting now comprises of football events in Belarus and Nicaragua, table tennis in Russia, and racing from the United States, Hong Kong and Australia. Which all in all amount to a rather limited content portfolio and will not make up for the loss of revenue that other major sport events generate.
Undoubtedly this translates directly to a significant loss in terms of turnover, with many industry experts expecting as much as 70% or even higher in terms of loss. On the other hand, and this needs to be highlighted, operators and suppliers alike have been agile in identifying new means of how to diversify the players’ engagement across a broader portfolio of verticals.
One of the major verticals that has seen a major bump on the immediate term has undoubtedly been virtual sports, which nowadays is accounting as much as 40% in terms of operators’ turnover. The same can be said with reference to the esports vertical and online casino vertical, with certain operators doubling their turnover in these verticals over a relatively short period of time.
How will the current situation impact the industry for the short term and the long term?
I reiterate that live sport events are resuming sooner rather than later. And I expect a high player engagement, if not actually higher, once the situation normalises itself. Does this mean that the industry will resume in its steps before the Covid-19 pandemic ensued? I highly doubt so. Even though there are few historical episodes which provide us with the required data as to how we will emerge from this situation, I expect the new more diversified content approach endorsed by the operators to stick also for the long term.
Operators are now seeing the opportunities that reside in other verticals. Since sport events have been cancelled, sportsbetting players have turned their focus to alternative betting products, be they virtual sports, esports, and online casino amongst other verticals.
In today’s context, I expect this “cross-selling” to other verticals to become even more determining as we go forward, because the current situation will surely have a lasting effect even on people in terms of their gambling behaviour.
I also expect retail operators to adopt a diversification of their business strategies and move towards the online channels. Does this mean that the brick and mortar experience will be a thing of the past? Certainly not. Retail betting shops and casinos still offer a betting and gambling experience in their own unique way. On the other hand I do envisage an expansion to the digital channels to complement the retail offer, with operators necessitating of a diversification of their revenue stream whilst also being better placed to retain their current fold of players, and acquire new customers through targeted marketing campaigns.
You have mentioned that operators are opting to “migrate” their players from sportsbook to other verticals.
Sports betting is an activity that nowadays is considered by the players as an enhancement to the real live action. One should also state that the vast majority of players bet on the teams, leagues, and different sports categories which they usually follow, and of which they have a good knowledge and understanding. There is an emotional attachment to sports betting, which in itself is driving operators to seek creative solutions in order to close the gap created by this “live sports void” for the short term.
Not only are they integrating new, innovative and alternative vertical content. They are going to great lengths to ensure a high level of player engagement even on the sportsbook itself, by exploring and expanding markets – such as the props market – that have until now played a rather minor role in the sportsbook vertical.
Most of our partners are realising the benefits that this expanded sportsbook content can have also in terms of retaining their fold of loyal players.
More importantly nowadays we are assisting operators pushing in their bid to create and develop new vertical markets. This is a further indication that eventually we are going to have a better, and stronger scenario, where sportsbook will still reign supreme, but strong gains will be registered in other verticals as operators will seek to diversify ever more their revenue stream.
How is BtoBet assisting its partners in mitigating the short term effects, and possibly putting in place a strategy for the longer term?
For the past months BtoBet has focused on boosting all its verticals in order to place all operators in the position to determine which strategy they want to undertake for their target players, whether they want to focus on sportsbook, online casino, lotteries, virtuals, e-sports and fantasy sports.
Nonetheless throughout these times we are still investing and pushing to provide bookmakers with the best range of alternative vertical content, whilst at the same time keeping focused on delivering a long term plan ensuring our partners will reap benefits by adapting a player-centric approach.
This is why we have put a strategy for the short term period assisting all our partners with the introduction of special content including:
- a daily selection of the most important horse-racing events,
- a new and engaging novelty bet section,
- extended E-Sports content,
- a boosted odds fantasy league,
- and a tennis game based on the outcome of more than 1 million matches.
We will also offer all our assistance to bookmakers and other operators in diversifying their business model by integrating a wider content for the Virtuals, with games from six leading industry providers natively integrated in the Btobet platform; an Online Casino portfolio consisting of an extensive list of over 8000 games from over 100 providers; and a wide selection of Lotteries, Instant Lotteries and Jackpots, with prizes up to €150 million.
Our past investments have also seen us launch a new retail solution, intended to not only boost the betting experience at the brick and mortar level, but also aptly enable operators to transform their non registered players into registered customers through a rapid registration process.
I am confident that the current sportsbook shortfall will be just a small blip in the radar for the majority of operators who optimise their business strategies, allowing them to reap major revenue increase opportunities from a wider verticals portfolio on the long term.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Inspired Entertainment, Inc., a leading B2B provider of gaming content, systems, and solutions, is excited to announce the launch of Bone Appetit
and Gold Spinner across the UK and Malta iGaming markets. Featuring striking visuals and thrilling gameplay, this pair of online and mobile slots has been designed to captivate players and drive strong performance for operators, further expanding Inspired’s growing iGaming portfolio of premium content.
Bone Appétit is a lively, pet-themed slot game played on 5X3 reels with 243 ways to win. Developed with a playful mix of pet-themed characters, the game offers an array of engaging features, including Bonus and Scatter symbols that unlock Free Spins, the Wheel Bonus, and progressive-style rewards.
The Wheel Bonus awards cash prizes and special features, while random appearances from a mischievous dog can trigger Big Wins or Bonus rounds. During Free Spins, cat chefs prepare a series of culinary upgrades, with the final payout determined by the quality of the dish they land, with higher-tiered dishes yielding the biggest rewards.
Players can enhance and customise their experience through Fortune Spins, Fortune Bet, and Bonus Buy options, or take risks with the Gamble feature for potentially larger prizes. Bone Appétit delivers an entertaining slot experience designed to appeal to a player’s appetite for light-hearted slots fun.
Gold Spinner is a high-energy 5×4 Ways Pays slot that blends dazzling gold-themed visuals and electrifying graphics with exciting gameplay. Designed for thrill-seeking players, the game revolves around a unique coin collect mechanic supported by two powerful bonus features that build anticipation and deliver potentially big rewards.
A pseudo-persistent coin pile collects coins from the first two reels, guaranteeing a coin drop when triggered. Coins landing on these reels activate a mini slot feature, awarding extra coins, multipliers, or boosts, all of which can carry into the Free Spins Bonus for even greater win potential.
As always, players can further tailor their experience through features such as Bonus Buy, which guarantees a Free Spins coin, Fortune Spins for streamlined play, and Fortune Bet for increased Free Spins frequency. With its combination of striking visuals, immersive mechanics, and adrenaline-fueled gameplay, Gold Spinner delivers a super-charged slot experience packed with winning opportunities.
Claire Osborne, Vice President of Interactive at Inspired Entertainment, said: “We are delighted to expand our iGaming portfolio with the launch of Bone Appétit and Gold Spinner, two fun titles that showcase the creativity and variety Inspired is known for. From the playful charm of Bone Appétit to the high-voltage thrills of Gold Spinner, both games deliver distinctive themes and engaging bonus features designed to entertain players and drive a strong performance for our operator partners.”
The post INSPIRED LAUNCHES BONE APPÉTIT & GOLD SPINNER ACROSS ONLINE & MOBILE appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Angel Gardzhev Product Owner at Sneaky Slots
Sneaky Slots drags players to the streets of Eastern Europe with its latest release, Gopnik
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Spit sunflower seed shells and take a walk with us to the rougher and tougher side of Europe with Sneaky Slots’ latest release Gopnik. Once you’re done squatting with the locals, get ready for our last release of 2025, Gods Go Pew Pew.
Reel Area
Gopnik plays out across a gritty 4-4-4-4-4 reel setup, where street smarts are the most important thing followed by babushka’s home-made cooking.
Two special symbols, Babushka and the Burner Phone, are like two peas in a pod that can deliver some unexpected neighbourhood drama.
- Babushka acts as a Wild and substitutes for all paying symbols. When she lands, she marks 1 to 4 positions across the other reels. If a Gopnik symbol hits any marked spot, it awards an instant bet multiplier of up to 50x.
- Burner Phone: RING RING! Ey brat, pick up! When this symbol drops on reel 5, it flips 2 to 4 random symbols into Wilds.
xNudge®
Fresh from the Nolimit streets, xNudge® rolls into Sneaky Slots for its debut.
The xNudge® Wild always nudges to become fully visible and substitutes for all paying symbols, increasing its win multiplier by 1 for every nudge. It can appear in the base game, Street Roll, and Super Street Roll (but never on the 1st or last reel), with up to 2 xNudge® Wilds landing per spin in the base game and Street Roll, and up to 4 in Super Street Roll.
Pick Your Bonus!
(Scratch Card Bonus Entry)?
Land 3 Bonus scatters to whip out a Scratch Card and try your luck. Matching symbols will trigger either Street Roll or Kiosk Raid Bonus games.
Hit the Super Bonus scatter on reels 4 and 5 alongside the Bonus scatters, and level up to the Super Scratch Card Bonus.
Keep an eye out for the Golden Car on the scratch card. Reveal this to win the filthy 6,666x Max Win.
Street Roll
Street Roll drops you onto the cardboard with 7 Free Spins and a boosted 6-reel setup. During this feature, Gopnik symbols on the 1st and last reel can land holding a dice token. If you manage to hit a Gopnik-with-dice on both ends, you’ll trigger the Cheeki Breeki Dice mini game, packed with multipliers also featuring xNudge.
Super Street Roll
Same rules as Street Roll apply, but if a win Multiplier is awarded from the Cheeki Breeki dice game it stays for the whole round and is stacked up with each new Multiplier awarded.
Cheeki Breeki Dice
Ey brat, come closer… got a game for you.
During Street Roll or Super Street Roll, the Cheeki Breeki Dice can hit the cardboard, and whatever those cubes show decides your fate. If the left die wins, you score a win multiplier for the current spin. If the right die wins, you get a burst of random Wilds. The value of the multiplier or the number of Wilds match whatever number landed on the winning die.
Land three pairs and you score a retrigger of 5 Free Spins. But hit the same pair three times in a row and boom, you unlock the Blyatiful Throw, awarding an instant prize based on the number rolled.
Kiosk Raid Spins
Kiosk Raid starts you off with 3 Spins, and only label symbols can drop. Every time a label lands, your spin count resets back to 3. Up top, the kiosk shelf flashes fresh bet multipliers each spin. Land a label right under one, and it grabs that multiplier and holds it till the end. Multipliers range from 1x all the way up to a fat 100x.
On every spin, the Kiosk Lady places bet multipliers across the top shelf of her stand. Each time you land a new label symbol below a Multiplier it will receive that Multiplier and hold it until the end of the bonus. And if the Kiosk Lady’s in a good mood (or just bored) she might toss in a modifier on the top row, giving a random label below a little upgrade.
Your total bet multiplier racks up above the grid as the labels stack their value. When the bonus ends, the Kiosk Lady whips out her trusty old calculator, probably older than Babushka, totals everything up, and hands over your payout with that classic “don’t bother me again” energy.
- Upgrade – Upgrades Multiplier on a random label below it to a bigger value.
- Double – Doubles value of a random label symbol below it.
- Collect – Collects a random label below it and adds its value to the total bet Multiplier again.
- Super Bonus – Gets you into Super Kiosk Raid.
Super Kiosk Spins
The same rules as in the normal Kiosk Raid apply here as well, but 2 more rows are unlocked. The first adds room for even more label symbols, while the new bottom row rolls out extra added values; from +1 all the way to +100, boosting every label stacked above it. This bottom row can also reveal exclusive Super modifiers, hitting entire vertical lines at once:
- Upgrade All – bumps all multipliers in that column to a higher value.
- Collect All – collects every label in that column and adds their total again.
- Double All – doubles the value of all labels in that column.
Sneaky Buy
Can’t wait for the shop to open up on its own? Ey brat, no shame in cutting the line. You can directly purchase the game features through the Sneaky Buy menu!
- Street Roll – You are guaranteed to enter the Street Roll Bonus.
Sneaky Boost
Sneaky Boost is activated for 2 times the base bet, where there is an increased chance of triggering the Bonus rounds. Landing 1 or 2 active Sneaky Symbols in a spin trigger a normal bonus feature.
Super Sneaky Boost can be activated for 5 times the base bet for an increased chance of triggering the Super Bonus feature. Landing 1 Super Sneaky symbol will trigger a normal Bonus and landing 2 Super Sneaky symbols will trigger a Super Bonus.
The Stats
Max Win: 6,666x
Volatility: Highly Volatile
Angel Gardzhev, Product Owner at Sneaky Slots, said: “We wanted to follow up Freak Show Revelation with something that hits even harder, and nothing hits quite like a proper Gopnik. The mechanics, the humour, the whole vibe came together in a way we’re incredibly proud of. Sit tight, brat… this is only the beginning.”
The post Sneaky Slots drags players to the streets of Eastern Europe with its latest release, Gopnik appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
B2B gaming supplier Push Gaming is spreading a double-dose of holiday cheer with the launch of 10 Santa’s Reindeers and Santa Hopper, two seasonal slots packed with excitement, charm, and immersive gameplay.
Leading the festive line-up is the latest Push Actions title, 10 Santa’s Reindeers, arriving in lobbies from 26th November. Inspired by Push’s hit game 10 Swords, this new release retains the popular scatter-pay mechanic while adding a fresh twist with Jackpot Reindeer symbols. These not only act as scatters but also grant instant prizes, offering players even more to aim for on each spin.
The true magic happens in the bonus game, where players unlock additional reel levels as they progress, boosting the chances of landing high-value Reindeer symbols and increasing win potential.
The base game provides the opportunity to enhance the gameplay once the bonus lands, thanks to the Push-Up Mods feature, which allows players to expand the reel set early, increasing their chances and ensuring a more powerful bonus round.
Arriving a week earlier on 19th November, Santa Hopper presents a more whimsical take. Set in a snowy wonderland, this charming slot offers light-hearted fun with the Santa and Jingle Drop features, both designed to keep gameplay unpredictable and engaging.
The latest addition to the Push Originals stable, it flexes its appeal to casual players with vibrant visuals, catchy mechanics, and lively pacing. Its approachable style and festive vibe make it an ideal choice for players looking for light-hearted entertainment with strong seasonal appeal.
George Fil, Director of Product Strategy at Push Gaming, said: “Christmas is always a special time in the slot world, and this year we wanted to offer something for everyone. 10 Santa’s Reindeers is packed with action and surprises, while Santa Hopper brings a more playful, unpredictable energy.
“Both are built to deliver that festive buzz players love, and we’re really excited to see them go live.”
The post Push Gaming unwraps festive fun with 10 Santa’s Reindeers and Santa Hopper appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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